Francisca Valerio

Authors

Francisca Valerio
Catherine Casanola, Florida International University

Files

Description

In this interview, Francisca Valerio shares her story about working in manual labor under the Miami sun for 30+ years and her experience with We Count! for the Que Calor! campaign. Being the first of nine children and a woman, then starting her family at twenty-one, she describes the pressure of having to help her mother, younger siblings, and own children from a young age. Having worked on her parent's farm in Mexico since she was a young girl, shortly after arriving in the States, she “accepted” to do the same here. She shares her experience working at a nursery and the conditions which she has had to work under. She tears up as she remembers the time when she felt that death was near as a result of being exposed to extreme heat with no breaks or water. She explains how working under the sun with no shade, water, or bathroom breaks has affected not only her health and personal life, but her husband’s as well. Francisca gives an optimistic view on the fear commonly shared by nursery workers; which she once had herself, but has now overcome with the help of We Count. She shares how We Count has impacted her knowledge about her labor rights and aided in finding her voice.

Publication Date

10-7-2023

Publisher

Florida International University

City

Homestead, Florida

Keywords

Florida International University, Extreme heat, Que Calor, We Count, Labor movement

Disciplines

Public Policy | Social Justice

Comments

Video Length: 00:48:36

Biography: Francisca Valerio is from Mexico City, a small province in Mexico. She comes from a farm family of nine children and is the eldest. In her hometown, she did labor work farming crops such as corn. She married young, and at twenty years old in 1993 she and her husband decided to move to America in pursuit of a better life. At twenty-one, she had her first of two sons. Seeing herself with little means to support herself and her family, she began working when her son was just 3-4 months old. She became a plant nursery worker. She has been in the industry for about 30 years. She is currently still working at a nursery and is a member of We Count! supporting the Que Calor! campaign that voices for heat standard regulations for workers that do outside labor.

Recommended Citation

Valerio, Francisca and Casanola, Catherine, "Francisca Valerio" (2023). Después del Desierto: An Oral History of Women Agricultural Workers in South Florida. 7.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/we-count-student-oral-histories/7